Here at Trafford, we want all our people to feel and see our EPIC values within our culture and the work they do.
Here is Nicola’s story about how she came to work at Trafford and why she is passionate about her role and the team she works in...
About Me
I am the Team Leader for Housing Standards at Trafford. I started in this role in June 2021 and manage two full-time members of staff. Our team sits within Regulatory Services within the Council alongside other teams such as Environmental Health and Pest Control. The role of Housing Standards includes responding to complaints of disrepair within privately rented properties, licencing of houses in multiple occupation, bringing empty properties back into use and completing immigration inspections.
As the Team Leader, I am responsible for managing staff, completing freedom of information requests, responding to Councillor enquiries, alongside having my own caseload. The role is very varied and whilst it's always busy, we work great together as a team and are supportive and flexible in our approach.
My Journey
When I completed my first degree at the age of 21 in Cell Biology, I was really unsure what I career I wanted to do. My degree taught me that laboratory work wasn’t for me but I wanted to use my qualification to get into a career I would really enjoy. My Father was a qualified Environmental Health Officer (EHO) and thought that I might like this type of work as it would give me the opportunity to get out, meet lots of new people and from one day to the next would offer me a lot of variety and challenge.
To find out more I took the initiative to meet with one of his colleagues who really promoted the career and the opportunities available. This resulted in me applying to study a postgraduate degree in Environmental Health. Whilst completing my first year of the degree, I volunteered at Oldham Council one day per week in order to gain experience and learn as much as I could. This eventually resulted in me getting a paid placement at Stockport Council.
I started at Stockport in 2007, and was lucky to be offered a permanent post with them when I qualified as an EHO in 2009. I worked in a variety of areas of Environmental Health but started doing housing enforcement in 2012, which I really enjoyed. Whilst the role can be challenging at times, it is equally as rewarding, especially when you get the chance to really help members of the public and make a difference to their home and family life.
In 2017 I moved to London and worked at the London Borough of Richmond as a Housing EHO. I worked as a temporary Team Leader for the team from 2019 until I left in June 2021, when I took my current position as Team Leader here at Trafford.